Surprise! The CMA’s Are Racist (Still)
On Monday, the Country Music Association announced the nominations for the 58th Annual CMA Awards, and folks, you'll never believe who wasn't included...Beyoncé—or, as I like to call her, the woman with one of the most critically acclaimed, fan-celebrated country albums of 2024.
In case you forgot, in addition to hitting No. 1 on the Billboard County albums chart, the groundbreaking album received beyond-rave reviews: Variety deemed Cowboy Carter a "tour-de-force," Rolling Stone thought it "a brilliant dissertation on genre," and the Washington Post asserted it "deserved respect." And yet, where the CMA is concerned, it's not getting any. Are we shocked? Sadly, no. The CMA has always been this way (read: racist). Even still, given the history Cowboy Carter made (this year, Beyoncé became the first Black woman to top the Billboard country chart since its 1964 inception), you'd expect one nomination as a performative display of "progress," at least.
Beyoncé left the door wide open for them to show their racism, and they did just that. I know she is living. pic.twitter.com/Qa6iID9Kwf
— maff. (@MathewNoKnowles) September 9, 2024
Instead, Morgan Wallen—the man who quite publicly used the N-word just three years ago—was. given seven nominations (including Entertainer of the Year). Worse yet? Post Malone, a collaborator on Cowboy Carter, scored four. Shaboozey, too, received a nomination for best new artist of the year.
There's a cruel irony in the fact that Cowboy Carter was quite literally prompted by the racist backlash Beyoncé received after performing with The Chicks at the 2016 CMAs performance--or, as she elegantly put it in the album's announcement: "An experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed...and it was very clear that I wasn't." Clearly, the CMA has simply decided it's quite comfortable turning its chaps around and showing its whole unwashed ass.
Beyoncé INSTEAD soundtracked USA Gymnastics at the Olympics. She ushered in a new gen of Black country artists into the mainstream, including Shaboozey who has been atop the B100 for 8 wks & counting. Only after having a #1 country hit herself. The CMAs are low hanging fruit.
— Mel Smith (@iamMelsmith) September 9, 2024
Fans—including those within the industry—are justifiably outraged.